Gas-House Gang : Life Is No Drag for Family That Races Along Together

You’ve seen them. On the freeway, at busy intersections and just about anywhere else automobiles can be found.

Slogan-inscribed license plate frames have become all the rage in recent years. A way to jazz up an otherwise boring tag of identification while revealing a personal motto or message.

Some are fact and some are fantasy.

Take, for example, the frame on Scott Hooper’s white Volkswagen bug in the student parking lot at Taft High. The inscription reads My Other Car is a Dragster.

“Lots of people have frames that say My Other Car is a Porsche or a Rolls-Royce, so they see mine and they think I’m lying,” Hooper said. “But this one is true.”

If there were any lingering doubts, Hooper erased them last month when he wheeled his 21-foot machine onto the Woodland Hills campus to pose for a cover shot for this week’s National Dragster magazine.

Hooper, 17, has earned that type of exposure for his accelerated performance and progress in the Top Gas West Drag Racing Assn.

The TGW was founded in 1979 to provide racers with an alternative to the format used by most drag strips in which competitors run against a preset performance figure. Top Gas is more of a wide-open, no-handicap form of racing. Drivers race against each other--not the clock. The first car to the finish line advances to a successive round and earns points. The loser is eliminated no matter what time he or she posts.

Top Gas dragsters are different from their Top Fuel nitro-methane-burning cousins in the National Hot Rod Assn. Top Gas cars run on gasoline, have engines that are limited to 530 cubic inches and must operate without a supercharger.

The nine-race Top Gas season runs from March through November with races at various sites, including Los Angeles County Raceway near Palmdale and Inyokern, which is north of Mojave.

Hooper burst onto the scene March 22 in just his second competitive race. He drove his car, “Class Disruption,” to a first place at Inyokern with top marks for elapsed time (7.49 seconds for a quarter-mile), speed (180 m.p.h.) and reaction time (.477 seconds).

The victory made him the youngest winner in the history of the association.

“I knew the second I shifted into first gear and passed the other car at the line that it was over,” Hooper said. “After I crossed the finish line and pulled the chute you could probably still hear me yelling I was so happy.”

Hooper continued to impress at an April 19 event at L.A. County Raceway. He finished second and again took honors for elapsed time (7.30) and top speed (185.4).

On April 26, Hooper had perhaps his biggest win when he beat 1986 TGW champion Bill Ogle.

“When you’re just getting buckled in and thinking about what’s going to happen in the race, the adrenaline is going and your heart is beating three times as fast as normal,” Hooper said. “You get up there to go and you’re thinking so fast. After the first round I calm down a little but I’m still definitely tense.”

Much of Hooper’s need for speed is in his blood. Howard Hooper, Scott’s father, is a Beverly Hills stockbroker who has found that the best way to leave the rat race behind is to get into a drag race.

“It gets my mind off work,” said Howard Hooper, who won the 1985 TGW Rookie of the Year award at the age of 44. “Racing is definitely a high because you feel the power and the anticipation at the starting line. But it’s relaxing at the same time because it’s the only thing you can think about.”

The Hoopers have always used motor sports to get away from it all. Howard and Carol Hooper traveled throughout the West while their three sons were growing up and racing on the motorcycle circuit. At 5, Scott was racing mini-motorbikes while his older brothers, Rich and Jeff, competed in motocross events.

The transition to automobile racing came seven years ago when Howard purchased a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. By the time Howard, Scott and engine-builder Gary Christensen were finished restoring it, the car was capable of doing 115 m.p.h.

Next came a ’68 Camaro that topped out at 145 m.p.h. In 1984, Howard purchased a Top Gas dragster and began racing the following year. Scott got a car of his own this year.

Going into the next TGW event June 27 in Bakersfield, Scott is in third place in the TGW standings and Howard is in sixth.

“If you looked at Howard, you’d never know he goes 180 m.p.h. on the weekends,” said Christensen, whose own “Ugly Duckling” dragster is currently third in the NHRA’s Division 7. “Both he and Scott are so laid back--nothing seems to bother them. When I go racing I can’t do anything except think about the race.

“Their attitude is more of a, ‘Oh well, we’re here.’ It’s neat because they are so low-key. Inside I don’t know what’s going on with them, but outside they are very calm.”

Helping keep things under control is crew chief Robert Jung and Carol Hooper. Jung lends the expertise that comes from working in research and development for Edelbrock Corp., which makes high performance auto parts. Carol Hooper drives the tow truck that pulls the dragsters to the start line and lends moral support to husband and son.

“I get worried even though I know they have the best roll cages, chassis and safety equipment,” she said. “But it’s still a lot of fun. There’s a lot of families out there. Moms, dads and grandparents. Everyone knows everyone else. It’s the kind of thing where you help people out.”

That is, of course, until you get to the starting line. At that point, a driver’s attention becomes focused and instincts and reactions take over.

There is a four-tenths-of-a-second interval between the amber “warning” and the green “go” lights that officially start a race. If a driver punches it too soon, his front tires will break an electronic beam, resulting in a false start and a red light.

A good driver’s reaction time to the light is .450 seconds. The secret to Howard’s success is his ability to anticipate or cut the light. He holds the TGW record with a reaction time of .041.

“You’re always trying to improve within the confines of the rules,” Howard said. “That’s why you spend seven hours working on the motor for every seven seconds you get on the track.”

Scott, too, has honed his skills by observation and by spending an estimated 20 to 30 hours a week working in the garage.

“Scott is a sharp kid who picks things up real fast,” Jung said. “I lose track of his age because he asks such intelligent questions. He watches and learns and I’m sure he can develop even further.”

Said Christensen: “Scott has never been scared. He climbed right into the car and went for it the very first time. He’s had some problems where he’s had to control the car and he’s shown me some composure. I’ve been driving these kinds of cars for 20 years and I can tell you, this kid is good.”

Scott, however, isn’t intent on becoming the next Don Garlits or Darrell Gwynn. He has 3.7 grade-point average and will be a senior next year at Taft. After high school, he plans on studying mechanical engineering in college.

The Hoopers take pride in their accomplishments and both Scott and Howard have the same immediate goal. There is no misinterpreting the message each would like to deliver to the other.

“A lot of people look at me and think I’m too old to be driving and then they look at him and think he’s too young,” Howard said. “All we want to do is beat each other.”

By coincidence, or luck of the draw, a match race hasn’t yet materialized. But . . .

“It’ll happen,” Howard said.

“Eventually,” added Scott.

“And that,” said Carol, “will be doubly nerve-wracking.”